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1895 



Bi-Centennial Anniversary 



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Friends' Meeting House 



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MERION, 



PENNSYLVANIA. 






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WILLIAM I. HULL 

1869 — 1939 

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Owartnmore, lennsylvania 







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BI-CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY 



FRIENDS' MEETING-HOUSE AT 



MERION, 



PENNSYLVANIA. 



1695 I$95 



Pfjilatielpfjia : 
friends' book association, 

FIFTEENTH AND RACE STREETS. 

1895. 








0^"^"%^ 

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COMMITTEE OF AKRANGEMENTS. 



Joseph W. 
Ellen D. Ramsay, 
Samuel H. Hibberd, 
Ella V. Conard, 
Mary J. Walker, 
Benedict Leedom, 
Ruth T. Roberts, 
William West, 
John Leedom, 

Ro:bf,r 



Thomas, Chairman. 

Joseph M. Truman, Jr. 
Anna F, Levick, 
George W. Hancock, 
Catharine Jones, 
Edmund Allen, 
Laura Allen, 
William Fussell, 
Davis Young, 

? M. Janney. 



The subject of holding memorial exercises at the 
Friends^ Meeting House, at Merion, Pennsylvania, to 
commemorate its erection in 1695, — two hundred years 
ago, — was brought before Radnor Monthly Meeting of 
Friends, Fourth month 11th, 1895, wherein it was 
duly considered and approved. A committee was 
appointed to make the necessary arrangements for the 
occasion, with authority to add to their numbers. 
With the desire that both bodies of Friends should be 
represented in the work, an invitation was extended to 
members of the other branch, and the preparation ot 
one of the papers and a poem assigned to them. 

The celebration was held on Seventh-day, Tenth 
month 5th, 1895, which proved to be a beautiful 
autumn day, and was enjoyed by the many friends 
assembled. The people began to gather several hours 
before the time appointed for the exercises, to take 
advantage of the opportunity of inspecting the meeting- 
house and the many points of interest associated with 
the place. A large tent was erected upon the grounds 
to accommodate those attending the exercises. At the 
hour announced, 1.30 p.m., an audience of one thousand 
or more persons had met therein. Shortly after this 
hour, the Chairman, Robert M. Janney, called the 
meeting to order, and requested the observance of a 
period of silence, during which prayer was offered by 
Rufus M. Jones, which met with response in the hearts 
of those present. 

The programme as arranged by the committee was 
soon after entered upon, being introduced by an address 
from the Chairman, which follows, with the other 
papers presented. 



mTEODUCTORY REMARKS. 

EOBEKT M. JaNNEY, CHAIRMAN. 

If any authority were needed for such an observance 
as this among Friends, I think we have it in the in- 
junction : " Honor thy father and thy mother ; that 
thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord 
thy God giveth thee/' 

In celebrating with simple yet sincere and appropri- 
ate ceremonies the two hundredth anniversary of the 
building of this meeting-house, we are desiring to honor 
the fathers and mothers who founded it, as also the 
long line of worthies who, through two centuries, here 
worshiped the Father in spirit and in truth ; and in so 
honoring them I feel that we are honoring ourselves. 

I trust that it is with no improper pride or spirit of 
self-laudation that we shall recount the past, nor with 
boastful confidence that we shall scan the future ; but 
that, drawing inspiration from the one, we may resolve 
to dedicate ourselves with singleness of purpose to a 
high fulfilment of the other. Believing as we do in 
the beneficent influences of Quakerism upon the world, 
and that it has a message to the people of to-day, let 
us keep always before us the simplicity and sufficiency 
of the faith of our fathers, — ^^the faith which was once 
for all delivered unto the saints,'' — the faith which, if 
truly accepted, concerns itself not so much with naming 
the name, as with doing the will. For hath not the 
Master said : " Not every one that saith unto me. Lord, 
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but he 
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven," 



— and again : ^' Ye are my friends if ye do the things 
which I command you.'' 

How much it means to be a Friend indeed ! 

Friends, it is a most pleasant privilege to welcome 
you on the very interesting occasion which to-day has 
drawn us as " with one accord in one place/' a place so 
fragrant with hallowed memories and so rich in sugges- 
tive thought. 

And there are many here who are not members of 
the Religious Society of Friends, but who gladly trace 
their descent from an honored ancestry which once 
worshiped here, and now sleeps in the quiet autumn 
sunlight on the hillside nearby. Especially to these, 
but most cordially to all, I bid welcome (using the 
word in its best signilBcance) as Friends. 



FEIENDS' MEETING HOUSE AT MERION, 
PENNSYLVANIA. 

AN HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

By Mary J. Walker. 

Although the first experience and the first settle- 
ments of Friends in America were not in Pennsylvania, 
yet in no other part of the New World is the interest 
of Friends and Friendly families so deeply seated. It 
is their own land and their own home. Pennsylvania 
was the child of the mother country, protected by the 
government and sharing the friendship of the throne. 

Philadelphia is to-day the Quaker City, and though 
no peculiar religious sect now guards her interests, and 
the Friendly garb is fast disappearing from her streets, 
yet the influence exerted by the early Friends may still 
be traced in her institutions for the increase of useful 
knowledge and healthful pleasures, and in the upright 
character of her residents. It is surprising how many 
individuals, though members of a different church, and 
affiliated with interests opposed to the testimonies of 
Friends, eagerly claim a Friendly ancestry. 

In the surrounding country where the old meeting- 
houses stood and still stand, though the worshipers in 
them are few, the Friendly stamp on the neighborhood 
is yet recognised and respected, and much regret is felt 
that the old-time simplicity is disappearing. 

Although desiring settlers of means, of honest pur- 
pose, of education, settlers of his own faith, William 
Penn persuaded no man or woman to precede or follow 
him to his wilderness. To one and all he said : " In 
whomsoever a desire is to be concerned in this intended 
plantation, such should weigh the thing before the Lord, 
and not rashly conclude on any such remove, and that 
they do not offer violence to the tender love of their 
kindred and relations, but soberly and conscientiously 



endeavor to obtain their good wills, the unity of Friends 
where they live, that whether they go or slay, it may be 
of good savor before the Lord, from whom alone can 
all Heavenly and earthly blessings come.'' 

To Pennsylvania as early as 1682 came the little 
band of pioneers that founded this meeting. 

In a paper on the " Early History of Merion," 
written by Dr. James J. Levick, we learn that 5,000 
acres of land were purchased in 1682 of William Penn 
by John ap Thomas and Edward Jones for themselves, 
and fifteen other Welsh families. These people had 
been convinced of the truth of the Gospel as preached 
by George Fox and others of the early Friends, and 
were anxious to go where they might live as those 
testimonies taught, in peace. They were land-holders 
and office-holders in their native country, most of them 
having education, and a few being persons of marked 
ability. Their purchase was within the Welsh Tract, 
on the west bank of the Schuylkill, in what is now the 
counties of Montgomery, Chester, and Delaware, the 
western boundary line of West Chester being the western 
limit of the tract. 

It was granted by William Penn as an especial home 
for his persecuted fellow-worshipers in that small 
mountainous part of English territory. 

The love of home in these Welsh hearts was so great 
that before they consented to cross the seas, they had 
bargained with the Proprietary for a separate Barony 
of 40,000 acres, where they could attend to all their 
duties, both temporal and spiritual, in their own way 
and in their own language. In this manner they con- 
tinued to live, aloof from all municipal control, con- 
ducting their affairs in " Gospel order " for some years, 
until the best interests of themselves and the surrounding 
country seemed to require them to relinquish their 
peculiar rights. 

This relinquishment was only accomplished through 
a stern sense of duty, and was done, as Friends say, 
greatly in the cross. Griffeth Owen and other Friends 
made an earnest, dignified appeal to the authorities 



9 

against the attempt to deprive them of their privileges, 
clingiDg to their rights as descendants of the '' Ancient 
Britons/^ and claiming that they had been promised in 
this country rights of law and language they had enjoyed 
under the crown of England. Their petition met with 
no favor. William Penn had returned to England to 
struggle for his rights and the welfare of his colony, 
his authority was slipping from his grasp, he could no 
longer protect his friends according to their desires, and 
the Welsh Tract was opened to strangers, though for 
many years there was little interference with their 
clannish feelings. Some of them afterwards held offices 
of trust under the government that had so used them, 
Griifeth Owen himself being for some time a member 
of the Governor's Council. 

With fond hopes fixed on this far-off New Wales, 
the little company of seventeen families, '^ in all forty, 
set sail from Liverpool in the ship Lyon, John Comp- 
toD, master, and arrived safely in the Schuylkill River 
the 13th day of ye Sixth month, called August, A.D. 
1682.'^ 

A few days later Edward Jones took possession of 
his share of the purchase, and made the first Welsh 
home in Merion. His descendants still hold title to some 
of the original grant, though this was not, as has been 
claimed, the first British settlement made in Pennsyl- 
vania. We have the authority of Dr. Smith for saying 
that Robert Wade and his family from England settled 
at Upland (Chester) in 1676, and were the first members 
of the Society of Friends who located permanently 
within the limits of the Commonwealth. 

The land occupied by these passengers on the Lyon 
included the ground on which was erected this house, 
(and it may be an earlier one), the building of which, two 
hundred years ago, we are here to-day to commemorate. 

These families were the founders of Merion Meeting, 
and, as was the custom with the early Friends, until a 
house for special service was ready, the homes of the 
members were the meeting-places of the Society. 

From Merionethshire in North Wales these early 



10 

settlers came, and like others who had broken ties in 
the old world to begin life again in the new, they gave 
the name of the beloved homeland they had left to what 
they hoped to make into a happier home for themselves 
and their children in this far- off wilderness. Merion, 
we are told, is so called from Merionethshire, a county 
of North Wales, named from a prince who lived and 
ruled there nearly a thousand years ago. From this 
rugged part of the old world, where are other names 
reproduced in this locality, came these serious, trusting 
people. Persecuted in their own country, they sought 
peace and freedom here, a blessing in which they were 
not disappointed, and which their descendants to this 
day enjoy. 

We are here to day to recall the good and lasting 
work of our Welsh ancestors, for many of us link our 
kinship with these old names, and can read our own 
family names in the early records. It is a foolish 
pride that boasts merely of a long line of ancestry, but 
if a satisfactory thrill stirs our hearts at the recollection 
that our fathers and mothers through several genera- 
tions have been hearers and proclaimers of good words, 
and practical examples of the religion they taught, and 
we are thus encouraged to press forward in a similar 
pathway, that we leave no stain on the family and the 
meeting record, then will this preservation of family 
and meeting history accomplish a good work for the 
future. 

A difference of opinion exists as to the exact time ot 
the building of this house, but it is said to have been 
for many years the only house of worship within the 
present county of Montgomery. 

The property was held by the Society for some years 
by deeds in the form of lease and release, the first 
actual deed being given in 1745. In 1695 a lot con- 
taining half an acre was conveyed by Edward Reese to 
the trustees of Merion Preparative Meeting, for grave- 
yard purposes. Joseph Tunis in 1763 donated a small 
strip of land adjoining, for the like use. In 1801 and 
1804 John Dickinson conveyed to the trustees two 



11 

lots for the use of the members and for the grave-yard, 
adjoining the latter and extending from road to road. 
A dwelling-house for the caretaker of the meeting- 
house and grounds has since been erected thereon. 

Joseph George, John George and Edward Price, all 
descendants of ancient settlers, have lately made liberal 
bequests for the future preservation and protection ot 
the house and grounds. 

When this building was erected there were no public 
highways near ; communication between the homes and 
places of business and worship must have been accord- 
ing to the pleasure and accommodating spirit of the 
settlers. As early as 1678 a court at Chester had 
ordered that every person " as far as his land reaches '' 
should make good and passable "■ wayes '^ from neighbor 
to neighbor. A survey for a road from Merion to 
Radnor was confirmed in 1713. We also hear of a 
road from Merion meeting to Darby passing by Haver- 
ford meeting-house. The old Conestoga or Lancaster 
road, now known as Montgomery Avenue through 
Merion and Kadnor, and passing this house, was con- 
firmed as far as the Brandy wine in 1721, though near 
the city, probably from Merion to Philadelphia, it had 
been in use much earlier than this. It extended from 
Lancaster to the Schuylkill River at High Street ferry. 
Tradition says in the days of the red man it had been 
an Indian trail. When civilization took the place of 
Indian customs, the traveled way w^as widened to suit 
the traffic of the new possessors. In 1785 a road was 
made from Levering's ford on the Schuylkill, connect- 
ing with the old Lancaster road at the north-west 
corner of this property. 

One of the highways from Philadelphia through this 
section was marked by mile-stones, a few of which still 
stand, having on the reverse side the coat of arms of 
the family of William Penn. 

From the minutes kept by women Friends we have 
"eight shillings paid for cleaning Merion meeting- 
house, 12th of Twelfth month, 1695," and for several 
successive years there is a similar entry. 



12 

While it is true that the Monthly Meeting minutes 
say certain favors were granted in 1713* for finishing 
Merion meeting-house, it is also true that as early as 
1702 the minutes of the Preparative Meeting tell of 
fini-^hing and furnishing Merion meeting-house, of 
providing hinges, locks, shutters and benches, — (they 
seemed desirous to '' secure '' the meeting-house), — 
and in 1703 Friends are requested to pay their sub- 
scription towards building the addition to the meeting- 
house. 

^^ On the 19 th of Third month, vulgarly called May, 
in the year 1693, in a solemn and public assembly in 
their [Friends'] public meeting-place at Merion " was 
solemnized a marriage. May not this " public meet- 
ing place " have been the temporary log structure, and 
the present building have been commenced in 1695, as 
the ancient stone in the gable testifies, and finally com- 
pleted in 1713 ? That the most of the present building 
was erected in 1713 is evident from a paper recently 
found containing the names of subscribers and the 
amounts contributed in that year for building the 
meeting-house. 

Not far away, by the roadside, on the highway that 
passes here, is a stone dwelling-house of the early 
Friends, a stone of which is plainly marked 1695. 

If there was stone that could be used for that house, 
may not some in this building be of like antiquity ? 

Friends are a truthful people, and we are unwilling 
to believe that they would have so misrepresented their 
work as to proclaim to the passer-by that this house 
was built in 1695, if it had not been erected until 1713. 
As it now stands it differs in appiearance from any other 
ancient Friends' meeting-house, the smaller part being 
attached to the larger in such a way as to form, archi- 
tecturally, a cross. Small as it is it has evidently not 
been all built at the same time, and the north end bears 
marks of the greater age. 



* DiflTerent authorities claim that the meeting-house of 1695 was a building of 

logs, which was replaced by this structure in 1713. 



13 

The chimney is in the middle of the building, between 
the two parts, the passage from one to the other being 
through what was probably at one time an open fire- 
place in an outer wall. It has been enlarged and 
changed at different times ; alterations have been made 
in the heights of the ceiling and upper gallery. The 
latter is very curious and interesting. 

The whole building is in a good state of preservation, 
though many regret the modern pla&tering on the out- 
side walls covering the original " rubble work " and 
pointed stone. The needed improvement might have 
been done in the form of restoration. On the grounds 
are venerable trees and an ancient horse-block, survivals 
of the days gone by. 

With the existing evidence we feel we can justly 
claim that two centuries have passed since the erection 
of a part of this house, and that the meeting here truth- 
fully commemorates that event. 

With the establishment of Merion Meeting are closely 
connected the names of Haverford and SchuylkiJl, and 
a little later that of Radnor, followed by the Valley, 
forming what is known as Haverford or Radnor 
Monthly Meeting. 

The first Monthly Meeting recorded in the minutes, 
still preserved, was held 10th of Second month, 1684, 
at Thomas Ducket's house in Schuylkill ; then followed 
one at John Bevan's house in Haverford, and Hugh 
Roberts' house in Merion. Soon after the first meeting 
a committee was appointed to select suitable grounds 
for burial-places near the three meetings. Of the three 
grounds selected, those of Haverford and Merion, with 
additions, are still used ; that of Schuylkill has long ago 
been overrun and occupied by Philadelphia's increasing 
business. It was on the Schuylkill front of Thomas 
Ducket's farm, at what is now Thirty-second and Market 
streets, and after some time passed from the Society ot 
Friends into the possession of strangers. The street at 
the west end of Market street bridge passes through it, 
all traces of it having now disappeared. We have no 
knowledge of any meeting-house ever being built at 
this place. 



14 

After 1688 any mention of it in connection with 
Haverford ceases. 

The minutes of Haverford Monthly Meeting from 
the first date are preserved in order for more than two 
years, then occurs a blank of seven years, and although 
the record begins again before the date stone tells us 
Merion meeting-house was built, we can find no men- 
tion of its erection, no appointment of a committee, no 
collection of funds. 

Our friend, Dr. George Smith, who was so deeply 
interested in his own meeting of Haverford, as well as 
in all the branches of Radnor Monthly Meeting, says 
in his valuable History of Delaware County that " there 
are undoubted facts to show that Haverford meeting- 
house was erected in 1688 or 1689." After its erec- 
tion all Monthly Meetings were held there. The first 
Monthly Meeting held at Merion meeting-house seems 
to have been in 1698. 

The minute says : " At our Monthly Meeting held 
at Haverford, the 22d of Second month, 1698, it is 
concluded that the Monthly Meeting for business be 
kept in course here, at Merion, and Radnor." Later 
still a minute states " that for the convenience ot 
Radnor Friends and those that settle upward, every 
other Monthly Meeting shall be held at Haverford." 

Minutes of the women Friends of Haverford, begin- 
ning in the year 1684, are still preserved. They con- 
sist principally of collections for the relief of the poor, 
and were made mostly in measures of corn and wheat, 
''what Friends can best spare," women Friends being 
generally the contributors. The Query as to poor 
Friends' necessities being looked after and relief 
afforded, could be truly answered in the affirmative. 

Whatever was needed, whether it was a cow, a work- 
ing implement, household goods, or the loan of money, 
was promptly furnished, if not by the meeting, then 
by a thoughtful, observant neighbor. If one family 
was homeless, some one better provided found vacant 
room in his own home for his less favored fellow- 
member. The charity of those days clasped the hand 



15 

closer tlian the philanthropy of these. '* Nor was their 
care in these respects confined to their own little com- 
munities. Wherever suffering humanity was found, 
our Quaker ancestors were ever ready to contribute to 
its relief." Haverford Monthly Meeting (which name 
stands for this whole Welsh section) subscribed £60, 
14s., lid. to the relief of Friends of New England, 
who had lost their crops and been molested by the 
Indians. 

John ap Thomas, whose name is most conspicuous 
in the annals of Merion, never saw the land for which 
he negotiated ; he died before the arrangements for 
coming to America were completed ; but his widow, 
Katharine Thomas, a brave Christian woman, with 
her children, carried out the family plan. At her 
house and that of Hugh Roberts took place all marriages 
of members in those early days, to prepare for which 
seems to have been the principal business of the Monthly 
Meeting. The children of John ap Thomas took the 
name of John, or Jones ; they were Thomas, Cadwala- 
der, Robert, and Katharine Jones, the name being thus 
3hanged after the Welsh custom. It is still an honor 
to the ancestry from which it came. 

At the house of Hugh Roberts, which must have 
been near here, as his land adjoined this land, on the 
second Fifth-day in Fourth month, 1684, was held the 
first meeting by Friends at Merion, of which there 
remains any account. This was a Monthly Meeting, 
and no doubt the meetings for worship had been regu- 
larly held earlier than this at the same freely-oifered 
home. 

Hugh Roberts was, says the " Early History of 
Merion," one of the most useful of the associates of 
William Penn in his new settlement. His Welsh home 
was in the parish of Llanvawr, and was known by the 
name of Ciltalgirth, meaning " the corner at the end ot 
the hill." The old house is now gone, but a newer 
house on the old site commands one of the finest views 
in Merionethshire." 

His manuscript journal says he was the son of Robert 



16 

ap Hugh of Llyndewydd near Bala, and was born and 
lived in Penllyn, in Wales. 

His first wife was Jane Owen, who died in 1686. 
He afterwards married Elizabeth John, who died in 
1691. 

Hugh E-oberts died while on a religious visit to Long 
Island at the house of John Rodman, Sixth month 
18th, 1702, and says the memorial written of him, 
"on the 20th was interred at Merion, after which a 
large meeting was held, wherein the Lord's presence 
was sweetly enjoyed, and several living testimonies 
borne concerning his faithfulness to God and satisfaction 
of his eternal well-being.'' 

His descendants are among Philadelphia's most 
useful and respected citizens. 

A certificate from his home meeting was furnished 
him and his wife on their first coming to America in 
1683, wherein it is stated that " he is one that hath 
both owned and received ye trueth for these fourteen 
years past, and walked since blameless in conversation 
and serviceable in his place upon all accounts, according 
to his talents. His wife likewise likeminded walking 
in the trueth and a good example to others." A letter 
appreciative of his ministry and service was given to 
him at the close of a visit to his native land in 1690. 
It also certifies to the merits of his ''dear wife 
Elizabeth," and desires that they and their children 
"shall be under the divine hand of providence, who 
ruleth the winds and commandeth the sea at his 
pleasure." 

He must have crossed the Atlantic at least once again 
on a religious visit, for his journal says : " In the year 
1697 the loth day of Twelfth month, I set from home 
to visit Friends in England and Wales." Several 
Friends accompanied him. They took ship at the mouth 
of James river, "where ye fleet met, and stayed on board 
fifteen days before we sailed, and had several meetings 
from ship to ship, to ye great comfort and satisfaction 
of our souls, and upon ye 7th day of ye Third month, 
we sailed out of ye capes of Virginia. 



17 



''Upon ye 14th day of ye Fourth month we struck 
ground at eighty-five fathoms water. On ye 17th day 
we saw ye laud of old England, and on ye 22d of ye 
said month we arrived at Plymouth." 

Shortly after his death a loving testimony was written 
concerning his life and labors by his friend John Bevan, 
which is still kept in the records of the meeting. 

Hugh E-oberts's mother died in 1699, and is buried 
in the grave-yard at Merion. A testimony concerning 
her is written by her son in his journal. 

Amongst his papers are some in the Welsh language, 
both prose and poetry. Manuscript scraps of Welsh 
poetry are also preserved by the descendants of Edward 
Reese. These have been literally translated for the 
pleasure of their interested and curious possessors. 

Haverford Monthly Meeting had maintained a 
direct correspondence with the Yearly Meeting of 
Wales. Ellis Pugh, a Welsh preacher, settled first at 
Radnor and afterwards at Plymouth. He paid a 
religious visit to his native land in 1707, and upon his 
return a concern came upon him to write a book, '' To 
direct the unlearned Britons of low degree to know 
God, and Christ, the life eternal." Haverford and 
Gwynedd united to publish this Welsh book, and after 
being carefully examined and approved, it was formally 
recommended to the " overseers of the press " at Phila- 
delphia. Meeting with their approval, it was published 
under the authority of the Quarterly Meeting. It is 
doubtless the earliest book in the Welsh language 
published in America. It was afterwards translated 
into English by Rowland Ellis, and so re-published in 
1727. 

Edward ap Reese, who gave, or sold for a nominal 
sum, to the Society of Friends, the ground on which 
Merion meeting-house stands, was born in Wales in 
1646, and died at Merion in 1728. He was one of the 
seventeen who came with their families in the ship 
Lyon. He was twice married. His first wife died in 
1699, leaving several children, one of whom was born 
in a stone hut on the Schuylkill bank in 1683. His 



18 

second wife was Rebecca Humphreys, whose father and 
mother, Samuel Humphreys and Elizabeth Reese, were 
married in Wales before two Justices of the Peace, 
Morris Wynne and Robert Owen, '^ ye 20th day oi 
April 1658, " which is one of the earliest, if not the 
first marriage on record, performed without the aid ot 
a priest. Samuel Humphreys died in Wales, but his 
wife and children came to Pennsylvania, where their 
descendants still live. 

His great-grandson, Joshua Humphreys, may. Dr. 
Smith says, be considered the father of the American 
Navy. 

Edward Reese was an acceptable minister of the 
Gospel amongst his people, and gave his message to 
them in the Welsh language. He made a religious 
visit to his native land in 1721, bringing with him on 
his return a certificate of welcome service beyond the 
sea. In his will is a bequest of ten pounds towards 
building a wall for the graveyard. By deed in 1747 
land for a school-house near the meeting was transferred 
to trustees by a son of Edward Reese for the sum of 
five shillings, an amount probably never paid, being 
named only to make the title good. The name Reese 
was changed in the second generation to Preece, and 
later to Price, the first family name in this country 
being still used by the descendants as a Christian name. 

The last marriage that occurred in Merion Meeting- 
house was that of Benjamin Hunt and Esther Price, 
Tenth month 16th, 1834. Esther Price Hunt is a 
descendant of Edward Reese, and is still living. 

During the dark days of the Revolution the Welsh 
Friends of this section were included in the general 
suffering. Between the two contending armies their 
goods and money were taken for the support of both. 

Cornwallis's army, as well as that of General Wash- 
ington, are named in our record books as taking at 
their need the property of our members. 

The meeting kept a partial list of the damage done 
as the cases were reported by the sufferers, that the loss 
might be equally shared by the Society. Two of their 



19 

meeting-houses, Radaor and the Valley, were occupied 
by the American soldiers, either as hospitals or officers' 
quarters. 

Trained against bearing arms and shedding a broth- 
er's blood, they sought in the main to avoid the strife, 
though their sympathies were mostly with the struggling 
colonists. Many of their youthful members disregarded 
the teachings of the Society, and enlisted or otherwise 
assisted the cause. Especially was this the case while 
the American army was in the neighborhood. Irving, 
in his " Life of Washington,'' says a number of young 
Friends joined the patriots beibre they left Valley 
Forge. The cases of such were laid before the meet- 
ing, and as they had violated the testimonies of Friends, 
many memberships were thus forfeited. 

We are told that many members of the Society ot 
Friends, '^ and among them men of high repute for 
their intelligence, took an active part in opposing the 
arbitrary measures of the mother country." General 
Anthony Wayne was of Friendly connection, and dur- 
ing the stay of the army at Valley Forge was quartered 
with his kinsman, who with his wife were prominent 
members of the Society of Friends. 

His intercourse with Friends, as an officer of the 
army, was satisfactory and just, so far as the state of 
the times admitted, and has been pleasantly remembered 
by his posterity and theirs. 

Almost all of the Friends from abroad who visited 
America under a religious concern have held meetings 
in this old house. William Penn undoubtedly spoke 
to his Welsh Friends collected for Divine worship on 
this spot, if not within these walls, though tradition 
says many of his hearers were unable to understand 
the sermon which he preached. John Fothergill makes 
note of a meeting here in 1727, " where a large num- 
ber were gathered, and the blessed Gospel testimony 
and humbling power greatly prevailed that day." 
John Churchman tells of going to Merion, " where we 
met our worthy friend John Fothergill, who had great 
and good service therein." In his ministry among the 



20 

Welsh settlers here, Rowland Ellis often acted as his 
interpreter. 

Thomas Chalkley, of Philadelphia, who traveled 
back and forth in the cause of truth continually through 
his own country and beyond it, held a meeting at 
Merion in 1724, which was large and satisfactory. 

Again in 1737 he was there, he says, " at the funeral 
of Edward Jones, aged 92, one of the first settlers, a 
man given to hospitality, a lover of good and virtuous 
people, and was likewise beloved by them. There were 
many hundreds of people at his funeral." 

Job Scott in 1787 says : ^' We had a meeting at 
Radnor and one at Merion, both heavy, laborious sea- 
sous for some time, but Truth rose into some dominion, 
especially in the latter, which on the whole proved a 
good and refreshing season, and ended in the savor of 
life." 

John Woolman also attended Merion Meeting in 
1758. 

Robert Sutcliff from England, while on business in 
America, in the early part of the present century, so- 
journed at Merion, and wrote of his stay while there. 
In 1805 he says : "A couple about to be married there, 
desiring the event to take place on Fifth, instead of 
Sixth-day, were so accommodated, and the alteration 
being eligible for a continuance, the day for mid-week 
meeting was thus changed." 

He speaks of a Friend living at Merion, whose sis- 
ter told him that on William Penn's arrival in America 
he lodged there with her great-grandfather, and that 
her grandfather, a boy about twelve years old, curious 
to see as much as possible of so distinguished a guest, 
*' crept to the chamber door. On peeping through the 
latchet hole he was struck with awe in beholding this 
great man upon his knees, and could distinctly hear him 
in prayer and thanksiriving, that he had thus been pro- 
vided for in the wilderness." * 



* Since writing this paper we have learned that this incident may be found 
in Watson's "Annals," and is there told as having occurred at Gwynedd. 
Thomas Evans was a great-grandfather to Susan Jones Nancarro, who related 
the above facts to John F. Watson as having taken place there, at the house of 
her great-grandfather. 



21 

Within the memory of the present generation, Ann 
Jackson, a descendant of Edward Reese, was a beloved 
Friend and minister at Merion, and her son, Stephen 
Paschall, gave good and welcome counsel from the 
gallery seat. 

The former is buried at West Chester ; the latter in 
the adjoining yard. 

Later Aaron Roberts came to reside near, and 
attended this meeting. 

His wife, a lovely '' girl woman," as she is described, 
soon felt called to proclaim the truth of the Gospel, to 
the grateful remembrance of those who heard her. 

Since their removal from the neighborhood, the 
Friends who remained have mostly spent the hour for 
worship in silence, but the faithful still live ; one aged 
man, deprived of his hearing, and otherwise a sufferer, 
is still a regular, and sometimes the only attender from 
a distance here. 

Years ago, when the nation was sorrow-stricken and 
mourning for the fall of its leader, a Friend yearning 
for expression of sympathy such as religion alone can 
give, would have sought it in the church, but was 
directed here, where an afternoon meeting was to be 
held. 

Our friend, George Truman, was among those assem- 
bled, and moved by the deep grief that shadowed the 
land, gave forth to the gathered throng such an out- 
pouring of eloquent sorrow in words of hope and faith 
as are still remembered by those who heard him, and 
the Friend returned to her home comforted and satisfied. 

A stranger, writing of another afternoon meeting 
here, says of a ministering Friend : "All who listened 
agree in saying he had the sweetest voice that ever 
addressed a congregation." For such ministrations 
through the many years, and for those whose graves 
have been made near by, is Merion Meeting-house en- 
deared to the Society of Friends, endeared to this neigh- 
borhood, and to all who love the relics of an honorable 
past. 

Conspicuous in meeting affairs in a by-gone genera- 



22 



tion were the Bowmans. Roger Bowman, the first of 
the name in America, was born in Derbyshire, Eng- 
land, where the family had lived since 1602. 

In one corner of their family estate is a group of fine 
old ash trees, and under their branches was built in 
George Fox's time one of the first Friends' meeting- 
houses in England, which still exists. When the seat 
of our government was at Philadelphia, Roger Bow- 
man lived near President Washington, whom he always 
called " George." Though ever watchful of the nation's 
honor, AVashington respected the conscientious principle 
that led to such a familiarity, and the two became good 
friends and neighbors. 

Descended from the earliest settlers, and closely con- 
nected with this house, loving it and its interests, was 
the George family. Like so many other families ot 
Friends, this one was divided when the Separation, now 
so much regretted by many members of both branches 
of the Society, occurred, and like most of them so 
divided, the ties of blood were stronger than the differ- 
ence of religious opinion, and love unchanged lived in 
their hearts, though the divided household worshipped 
in separate houses. 

That branch of the family that remained with the 
members here, were regular attenders both of business 
and other meetings, until the friends and neighbors of 
their faith passed away by death or removal, and they 
were left almost the remnant here, but faithful to their 
inherited trust and to their own sense of duty, they 
rarely missed a meeting, though sometimes no other 
members met with them. 

One by one they too were called from labor here, 
until a few years since the last one was laid to rest 
beside his kindred in the adjoining yard, and the greater 
part of his large property passed by his bequest into 
the Society of Friends, to establish an advanced school 
for the benefit of those of its members who had not 
been so blessed as he in earthly possessions. This be- 
quest is now doing good service under the name of the 
George School. 



23 

Of those who retained their membership with what 
is known as the Orthodox branch of the Society, Jesse 
George and his sister Rebecca are well known as Phila- 
delphia's benefactors. The valuable contribution to 
Fairmount Park, known as George's Hill, was their 
gift, and many public charities have benefited by their 
liberal bounty. As they sympathized with the needy 
whom they knew not, so their gentle love was round 
about their kindred, their friends, and all with whom 
they mingled. One whose life had been spent in loving 
service to them, asked as a favor to be laid in death at 
their feet, a wish we believe that unforeseen circumstances 
prevented being gratified. 

All of the George family are buried at Merion. 

There are other honorable households in this locality 
that trace their ancestry to the purchasers of the land 
from William Penn. There are families of this neigh- 
borhood well known for their ability in the business of 
life, that possess marriage certificates and other records 
closely connected with the history of this meeting- 
house, but for many years their names have been miss- 
ing from the list of its members, and those who perform 
the present work of the Society of Friends within this 
Monthly Meeting know little of them. 

Great have been the changes the two hundred years 
have wrought. Where was for our predecessors toil 
and privation, is now apparent ease and prosperity. 
Yet let us not be unmindful that luxury has ever been 
an opportunity for corruption, and boast not too much 
that the present age is such an improvement on the 
past. 

At another ancient meeting-house, in the hush of an 
autumn twilight, I hear again in recollection the soft, 
sweet voice of Deborah Wharton, repeating the words 
of the Master she so earnestly worked to serve : " In 
this world ye shall have tribulation, but in me ye shall 
have peace." We, too, if we live the same lives of 
patient suffering, of self-denial, of Christian charity, 
and of brotherly love, as did so many of those who 
first turned their hearts to God beneath this roof, will 



24 



be an example to those who, two hundred years hence, 
may be battling with the evils of their day and genera- 
tion. We have but to live by the same faith and seek 
for the same grace that made the religion of our fore- 
fathers. It was their salvation, and it may be ours. 

In the records of human greatness there are few ex- 
amples more worthy of our study and imitation than 
that of William Penn, the Friend, the founder of Penn- 
sylvania. 

Two hundred years have passed since he labored for 
the benefit of his fellow-men, and walked humbly in 
obedience to the voice of his Heavenly Father. To-day 
his name and memory are respected and honored in 
every civilized land. 

His life was largely made up of anxiety, sorrow, and 
suffering, yet trusting and resigned through all trials, 
we may see in his experience something of the truth 
and beauty of the w^arning he gave to his people : 

'^ JSTo Cross, no Crown." 



25 



POEM. 
By James B. Walker, M.D. 

Stay, Time, thy rapid, ceaseless flight. 

While we recall two centuries of thine, 
And those wlio bravely struggled for the right, 

About this modest, friendly, wayside shrine ! 
Thou art called cruel, ruthless Time, by some, 

Stern Reaper, " ever with the glass and scythe ; " 
A heartless wrecker, conscienceless and dumb, 

Before whom mortals e'er despairing writhe ! 
'Tis said thou touchest monuments that mark the great 

Only to level them in crumbling dust ; 
A spoiler, fierce and inconsiderate, 

Unmerciful, unbridled, and unjust ! 

Not so, we deem thee, kind old Father Time ; 

A leveler thou, but leveling to the right ! 
Virtue and Justice, in their course sublime, 

Find thee a master-builder in thy might ! 
Full gently hast thou dealt with this old home, 

Where on the First-day and amid-week too, 
Long lines of generations here have come. 

To show the world their faith, their strength renew. 

When Might was right, and Force was law, 

And the powers that ruled were Strife and Greed, 
When Church 'gainst Church their forces draw, 

And religious fervor meant zeal for creed ; 
When the " Head of the Church," or Pope or King, 

Knew naught of the power of Love to bless ; 
But the torments of hell serve their purpose well 

For all who a diiferent creed confess ; 
In this seething cauldron of hate and strife. 

With devotion dwindled to barren form, 
A man arose, in the strength of life, 

With an olive branch in the scathing storm ! 

No creed he clamored, nor outward form, 
No blinding dogma, the truth to blight, 

But he sought to lead his fellow-men 

From the outward forms to the Inner Light ! 



26 



"A spirit there is in man," he cried, 

*' Which the inspiration from God on high 
Without assistance from man or creed 

Giveth understanding abundantly. 
A still, small voice, this Inner Light, 

Enlighteneth Christian, Pagan, or Jew, 
Leads the humblest soul from the darkest night 

To the light of God and his blessings too ! " 
He called from the prevalent war of creeds 

Unto Love, religion's severest test, 
For though Hope and Faith are daily needs, 

Love shineth ever, brightest and best. 

His voice found echo 'raong low and high ; 

Right reason the hearts of many blends. 
And the gathering band, clasping hand in hand, 

Take upon them the hallowed name of Friends. 

They have helped to lift from the dust their race, 

Teaching man is a child of God, not of sin ; 
That God is a Father whose loving face 

Never turns to hate for His human kin ! 
Nor the stinging lash, nor the dungeon dark 

Could cool their enkindled fire of love ; 
Nor the brutal laws by tyrants made 

Could make them false to their conscience prove I 

But the merciless storm of hate, at last 

Has driven some, amid great distress. 
From the land of their sires and altar fires, 

In search of Peace, to the wilderness. 
Penn's Sylvan woods a haven prove. 

Though the forest is dense where the savage lurks. 
But the peace of God has hallowed the sod 

As their simple doctrine a miracle works ! 
For the savage foe is transformed a friend. 

And the Treaty of Penn, nor sealed nor signed, 
Is made to stand, throughout Penn's land, 

Unbroken, though never an oath to bind. 

Here brought they their all to stand or fall ; 

Here built they hearths and homes anew ; 
Here lived they their creed in word or deed, 

"To others do as you'd have them do." 
Their conscience, God's supremest gift, 

They prove their faith in the " old, old story," 



27 



That out of the darkness naught can lift 

But the " Christ within, the Hope of Glory ! 
This house they builded of wood and stone, 

Whichi their faithful lives have consecrated, 
As here they humbly sought the throne 

Of Grace, that they be rejuvenated. 
No spires toward Heaven its roof do mark, 

For the aspirations of its people 
Were reaching God-ward in light and dark 

And needed no heavenward-pointing steeple. 

Old meeting-house, so plain and quaint, 

Devoid of lofty spire or dome. 
Here many a household's hallowed saint 

Sought grace divine for use at home ! 
The shadows are soothing on thy lawn, 

Thy very atmosphere is peace, 
And the silence creeping our hearts upon, 

Bids doubt and discord and rancor cease. 
The hands that built thee, heads that planned. 

And hearts that thee have consecrated, 
Long since their human lives have spanned. 

Their dust to earth, their souls translated ! 

They builded well this meeting-house. 

But, better still, their daily record 
Of lives which Right and Truth espouse ; 

No evil stain their pages checkered ! 
We praise them for their earnestness 

In all that counts for man's improving ; 
Their honest faith, with special stress 

On God's omnipotence in loving ! 
We bless them that the " wrath of God " 

Was seen to be of man's invention ; 
Our sinning cloudeth not His face 

But blinds our human comprehension. 
No need for priest to shrive or bless, 

Nor complex scheme for man's salvation ; 
Down, to man's utmost lowliness. 

Reaches God's hand in restoration ! 

Hert^, plainly bonneted and gowned, 
With faces saintly, sweet, and pure, 

Have calmly sat the seasons round. 

Spreading an incense heaven-born, sure, 

Those mothers of our Israel, 

Who nurtured us through childhood's prattle. 



28 



And saved our manhood's wandering feet 

From many a snare in life's rude battle ! 
Their memories linger iu our lives, 

The halo deepening round their faces ; 
We see them as we meet to-day, 

All in their once familiar places. 
We've love for all the human race, 

Believing all mankind are brothers, 
And can't help wishing all had had 

Like us, good, old-time, Quaker mothers ! 

Old meeting-house, so quiet thou, 

Some think thy silence of the tomb ; 
Seeing but darkness gathering now, 

With bowed heads they await the doom. 
But unto us thy silence breathes 

A " peace that passeth understanding " ; 
Thy countless hallowed memories. 

To active, earnest life commanding. 
Thou speak'st of " swords to plowshares turned, 

Of war's rude blasts and visions gory 
Transformed to nobler voice of " Peace, 

Good will," the near forgotten story ; 
Of savage warrior, robbed of hate, 

His knife in sheath, his hatchet rusted ; 
Of Treaty kept inviolate, 

As each the other fully trusted ; 
Of voices raised in Freedom's cause, 

To which 'twere treason e'en to barken, — 
Brave cries against inhuman laws, 

Which once oiir nation's fair face darken. 

What though the numbers gathering here, 
Are growing fewer still and fewer, 

The influence started at this source 
Is spreading outward, onward, sure ! 

Nothing that's good shall perish. Out, 

In circles spreading far and wide, 
The grace extends, till reaching all. 

Naught human will be found outside. 
The nations cry for peace. War's realm 

Is yearly growing small and smaller. 
While Peace, sometime a suppliant child. 

Is growing manlier and taller ! 
Its day is dawning gloriously. 

And the old earth, its lessons learning. 



29 



Is less and less in creeds concerned, 

And more for righteous fruit is yearning. 
Black night is vanishing ! The sun, 

A brilliant globe of light, is rising, 
Its flood is streaming onward, vast 

Enough for all the world's baptizing ! 
The creeds less rigid are ; man-made. 

In times when Light was showing dim, 
They bind like burial cerements, 

And burst they must on growing limb ! 

Let us not grieve if numbers fail 

To fill the old familiar benches, 
They have not gone " without the veil," 

But find good work in other trenches. 
What though our sect may dwindle more, 

One fact should make us much amends, 
The best of men, in all the creeds. 

Are clasping hands as earnest friends ! 



30 



WHAT THE FKIEND HAS DONE IN THE 
PAST. 

By Allen C. Thomas. 

It is fittmg that men and communities should at 
times review past years, and ask of them what message 
they bring of encouragement, of warning, of teaching, 
or of strength. It is with no feelings of pride or of 
laudation that we look back to-day at the work of our 
fathers to glance at what they have done ; but it is to 
bring before us in grateful remembrance their faith, 
their earnestness, and their devotion to principle and 
to the everlasting truth. 

Two hundred years ago, except in Holland, there 
was little or no religious liberty in Europe ; toleration 
was almost unheard of, freedom of thought, of con- 
science, of worship, and of doctrine was held by many 
to be absolutely wrong. Retaliation was considered to 
be the chief end in punishment — an eye for an eye, a 
tooth for a tooth being the standard — and punishment 
itself was terribly severe ; prisons the world over were 
sinks of iniquity and vice, and foul beyond description 
from the total lack of sanitary care. Slavery was held 
to be lawful, and good men had no hesitation at engag- 
ing in the slave trade or of receiving profit from the 
dreadful traffic. Ordinary buying and selling was a 
continual struggle between buyer and seller to see which 
could get the advantage of the other. During the latter 
half of the seventeenth century, particularly in Eng- 
land, society was luxurious, artificial, and conventional; 
laws were cumbrous, justice was too often perverted, 
juries venial, and judges arbitrary. As between nation 
and nation, war was, if not the normal condition, at 
least of frequent occurrence, while but very few indi- 
viduals questioned, even in the abstract, the lawfulness 



31 

of war for the Christian. A careful student of the 
age cannot fail to be struck with the high position 
which was accorded to authority in Church and State 
and in social life. Outward standards of life and 
practice, particularly in church affairs, were set up, to 
which every one was expected, and, whenever practica- 
ble, forced to conform. Englishmen had been restive 
under this rule and rebelled. Some few separated from 
Church and State and betook themselves in a sad pil- 
grimage to Holland, and thence to America. Others 
were successful for a time in purifying the outward 
ceremony of worship, and also in driving from the 
English throne a king who finally sealed his belief in 
authority with his blood. But still the belief in author- 
ity was strong, and the spirit of uniformity so ruled that 
a lofty son of England was fain to cry out — 

" New presbyter is but old priest writ large." 

Like the voice of one crying in a wilderness, George 
Fox proclaimed, with a force and clearness rarely 
equalled, the old truth, old but ever new, that God 
speaks directly to every individual soul, and that with 
this divine message comes a personal responsibility that 
cannot be cast off ; he taught a personal sense of divine 
communion independent of church organization or 
regulations, a direct communication of the will of God 
that may not be unheeded with impunity. He placed 
the whole life upon one plane, to be ruled by the same 
laws, to be guided by the same principles ; the loftiest 
aspirations and the humblest duties were to be alike 
governed by the divine law. He taught that men can- 
not commit their consciences into the keeping of 
another ; that ^' they should trust to principles and 
leave consequences to God ; to confess their ideal even 
when attainment was impossible." 

It is hard for us of the present day to believe that 
these truths were not generally accepted in Fox's time, 
but that in upholding them thousands suffered and 
languished in loathsome jails, that thousands were bur- 
dened with heavy fines, some were banished from home 



32 

and country, some sold into slavery, some condemned 
to death, experiencing the extreme penalty. In the 
face of all opposition, of suffering and of death, the 
Friends held on their way, and not only that, but 
attracted to their side others who joined heartily with 
them. By patient endurance of grievous suffering in- 
curred in refusing to obey the infamous " Conventicle 
Act " in England, and unrighteous laws in America, 
they were almost wholly instrumental in winning, not 
only for themselves, but for all their fellow- citizens, 
freedom for the exercise of religious thought and wor- 
ship ; by the refusal of Friends who were tax-assessors 
to levy taxes for the support of church ministers, a 
refusal persevered in, despite protracted imprisonment, 
the separation of church and State in Massachusetts 
was definitely settled ; and by steady though passive 
refusal to take judicial oaths they gained for all, both 
in England and America, the privilege of affirmation. 
Again, the value which Fox and his followers placed 
upon the individual led to not a few remarkable results. 
The universality of the work of the Holy Spirit not 
only laid a responsibility upon each individual for his 
own life and work, but made him ready and earnest to 
work for others. No one was too high to be addressed, 
no one too low or too degraded to be lifted up ; Chris- 
tian or unbeliever, Turk or Jew, bond or free, white or 
black, all were enlightened to a greater or less degree, 
and therefore to them was something due from those 
who might have greater light, and who moreover had a 
universal message to proclaim. The Friend did not 
stop with generalities; principles must be carried into 
practice, doctrine must be illustrated by daily life. So 
we find that George Fox was one of the very first to 
raise his voice against the evils of West Indian slavery, 
one of the first who emphatically declared that negroes 
should be treated as men, urging that they should be 
dealt with ^' mildly and gently " ; and without fear he 
told the slave-holders of Barbadoes that if they were 
in the condition of their slaves they would consider it 
" a very great bondage and cruelty,'' and, when such a 



33 

thing was almost uukaown, he urged again and again 
that the Gospel should be preached to the negro slaves. 

In 1688, on the 18th of the Second month [April], 
German Friends of Germantown drew up that ever- 
memorable protest against ''traffic in the bodies of 
men," and against handling " men as cattle " ; a docu- 
ment believed to be the first official protest of any re- 
ligious body against slavery. The leaven worked 
slowly, but through the labors of Anthony Benezet and 
others, above all, of John Woolman, by the year 1787 
there was not a slave in the possession of an acknowl- 
edged Friend. How much members of the Society 
have since done against slavery and on behalf of the 
slave is a matter of familiar history. 

The interest taken in the American Indians by John 
Eliot and Roger Williams, and the kindly treatment of 
them by not a few of the early settlers is well known, 
but no religious body in America, as a whole and as 
individuals, except the Society of Friends, has always 
and uniformly treated the Indian as a man and brother. 
George Fox and his band of missionaries preached to 
the Indians, and urged upon the settlers kindly and 
brotherly treatment of them. It was reserved for our 
noble and honored predecessor, William Penn, in this 
great commonwealth which he founded, to give a 
practical object-lesson to the world to show that the law 
of love, if honestly practiced toward the red man, would 
be understood and reciprocated, and that agreements 
made with him, though not sworn to, would never be 
broken so long as carried out by the white man in that 
spirit of mutual trust and understanding in which they 
were conceived and executed. What other colony has 
the record of not a settler killed or injured by an Indian 
for nearly seventy years, and that with an exposed 
frontier, and during three colonial wars ? Not the least 
valuable lesson then which the Friend has taught, has 
been that the heart of even the untutored savage under- 
stands the law of love and will reciprocate it ; a fact 
true not only of colonial days, but illustrated in suc- 
ceeding years by many examples. 



34 

Williain Penn in his laws for Pennsylvania removed 
death as a penalty from the list of all crimes except 
murder and treason, and doubtless would not have ex- 
cepted these had it been possible to do so, and he did 
this at a time when English laws made over two hun- 
dred crimes punishable by death. He also, a century 
before John Howard, strove to make the prisons of 
Pennsylvania places where the reformation of the crim- 
inal was to be aimed at instead of retaliation for the 
crime committed. It was Elizabeth Fry who again 
awakened the consciences of Englishmen to the general 
neglect of their prisons, to the indiscriminate mixing of 
prisoners, to the immorality of their surroundings, and 
to their sufferings in the prisons in which they were 
confined. 

It was William Penn who placed before the world a 
frame of government far in advance of any others then 
in existence, and unsurpassed for its moderation, for its 
justice, for its high ideals, for the care taken to secure 
the rights of the governed, who were themselves, to all 
intents and purposes, the rulers. That this '' Holy 
Experiment '' was not a complete success was due, not 
to any shortcomings in the plan, but to the interference 
of the English government, and to the lack of faith in 
those who lived under its laws, and enjoyed the bless- 
ings of its free and liberal provisions. 

That war is contrary to the teachings of the New 
Testameut was a logical conclusion of the position 
taken by the early Friends, and the sufferings under- 
gone in defense of this belief have been many and 
severe. In Pennsylvania, again, we have the practical 
illustration of a State founded upon the principles of 
peace, and of a government which existed for years 
without forts, without cannon, without any of the im- 
plements of war, and which lived at peace with its 
neighbors, both civilized and savage, for two genera- 
tions. Arbitration as a means for the settlement of 
differences was early introduced among Friends, and 
was provided for in Penn's Frame of Government, not 
onlv as between citizen and citizen, but also as between 



35 

Indian and white. So sure was the great man that 
this principle was the true one for the settlement of 
differences, that in 1694 he published *'An Essay 
toward the present and future peace of Europe by the 
establishment of an European Diet, Parliament, or 
Estates," anticipating in this paper most of the modern 
arguments for international arbitration. 

George Fox tells us that his father was called 
" Righteous Christer," on account of the purity of his 
life and the justness of his dealings. His greater son, 
more than others of his generation, more than many in 
this our day, believed in a righteousness of life and 
conduct. He taught that a man's word should be as 
good as his bond, — nay, was his bond, — and that in all 
his dealings he should be absolutely truthful. Friends 
imprisoned for conscience' sake were trusted to march 
from prison to prison, and from prison to trial, without 
a guard, on a simple promise to appear. Their very 
persecutors trusted them without hesitation. The same 
principle of yea, yea ; nay, nay, was carried into their 
business, and it was the Quaker shop-keeper who intro- 
duced into English trade the practice of fixed prices 
and strict uprightness in dealing. 

Friends have been foremost in the position accorded 
to woman in social life and in the church. Fox early 
saw that the universality of the dispensation of the 
Spirit forbade the exclusion of woman from any part 
of the divine commission, and so the share of woman 
in the gift of the ministry of the Word was placed upon 
an absolute equality with that of men, while in other 
respects to woman was given a place and an authority 
unknown at that time elsewhere. The result of this 
righteous course is shown in the long list of women, 
from Elizabeth Hooton, George Fox's early convert, to 
the present day, — women, whose counsel, whose works, 
and whose example have been such an inspiration to the 
body, and so often a blessing to the community in which 
they have lived. 

It is hardly the place to show how the principles 
which have been mentioned led to dependence upon the 



36 

Spirit for practical guidance in matters spiritual and 
temporal, to simplicity in worship, to the laying aside 
of ritual, disuse of rite and ceremony, and to absence 
of class distinction, as into clergy and laity. Nor is it 
necessary to go further into particulars, for enough has 
been said to show how the very constitution of the 
Society of Friends has led those belonging to it, not 
only as individuals, but also as a body, into the adop- 
tion of great principles and into the carrying of them 
out to a remarkable degree in daily life and practice. 

What the Friend has done has not been so much to 
enunciate new truths as to have been the pioneer in 
calling attention, by precept and example, to old truths 
sometimes forgotten, sometimes covered up by custom 
and precedent, sometimes believed to be impracticable 
under the present constitution of the world. Because 
much of what the seventeenth and eighteenth century 
Friends suffered and died to gain is now the possession 
of all, we of the nineteenth century are apt to forget 
their services. It is the province of such occasions 
as the present to recall what our forefathers have done 
in order that we may be nerved to perform the duties 
that are before us, animated by the same faith which 
filled their hearts. 



37 



THE PRESENT WORK OF THE SOCIETY 
OF FRIENDS. 

By Isaac H. Clothier. 

On the occasion of the celebration of the two hun- 
dredth anniversary of this old meeting-house, which in 
its quaint simplicity has come down to us a relic and a 
representative of by-gone days, — even the early days 
of the Society of Friends, — it is fitting that those who 
hold the faith of the founders of that Society should 
come together on this historic ground to recall the 
memories of those early days, to devoutly rejoice 
together in the possession of a modest yet glorious heri- 
tage, and to strengthen each other and dedicate them- 
selves anew to the duty of the day and the shaping of 
the future. 

This large company composed of old and young, of 
those who in the natural order must soon pass on to the 
higher life, of the mature and middle-aged, now in 
full activity, of the young, pressing ever onward to 
take their places ; all these, the successors of the little 
company of Friends who met here two hundred years 
ago, — may well recall the memories which cluster around 
these walls, and with just pride in their worthy and 
honored ancestry, resolve that in these altered times, 
and under new conditions, they will preserve the tradi- 
tions of the Fathers, in their simple, steadfast faith, 
their heroic devotion to principle, and in their conse- 
cration to the duty of their day. The history of the 
old house and of our worthy ancestors who worshiped 
beneath its roof has been well given in your hearing ; 
the part assigned me is to sketch the duty and influence 
of the Society of Friends in the world to-day. 

We are among the representatives of a Society which, 
though one of the smallest in numbers from its founda- 
tion until now, has yet commanded a measure of atten- 



38 

tion and exercised an influence in the world entirely 
disproportioned to the size of its membership. Reviled 
and persecuted first in England, then in this country, 
and held up to public scorn and ridicule, the Society 
grew while persecution lasted, and not until it ceased 
did its growth lessen. But though never large in 
membership, and numbering to-day in England and 
America perhaps less than one hundred and fifty thous- 
and souls, its influence has been extraordinary in the 
world. John Bright said : ^^ I am a member of a 
small but somewhat remarkable sect, a religious body 
which had a remarkable origin, and in its early days, 
at least, a somewhat remarkable history. It is of all 
the religious sects the one that has most at heart the 
equality and equal rights of men." And Gladstone 
has lately written : " Whatever may be thought of 
Quaker theology, the character of the Quaker has left 
an indelible impression upon the world." 

The principles of the Society scarcely need to be re- 
stated here. At the World's Congress of Keligions in 
Chicago, two years ago, and at the Bi-Centeunial of 
the establishment of New York Yearly Meeting, the 
present year, at Flushing, terse and admirable state- 
ments of the faith, history, and work of the Society 
were made by our ablest representative writers. While 
we can hope to add but little to their presentation, it is 
fitting that on this Anniversary occasion we too should 
recount in our own way that which cannot be dwelt 
upon too often, — the simplicity and sufficiency of the 
faith of the Friends and its potent influence on man- 
kind by reason of its very simplicity. And that has 
been the corner stone, the essence of the faith of the 
Friends, — simplicity of faith and of life. 

Throughout all history the greatest contentions 
among men have been in the name of religion. The 
Protestant Reformation, brought about by the corrup- 
tions of the Church, was a step in the direction of a 
purer and more enlightened religion, but its great 
apostle, Luther, evidenced the intolerant spirit of the 
age by declining to clasp hands with the Swiss reformer, 



39 

Zwingli, — though both were striving for the same ends, 
— because the latter could not honestly subscribe to 
every article of a complicated confession of faith. John 
Calvin, a man of the highest moral elevation and 
religious fervor, caused Servetus to be burned at the 
stake because of his religious opinions. A century later 
George Fox stirred the religious world with a revival 
of the simplicity of the religion of Christ, and William 
Penn proclaimed that for their religious opinions men 
are responsible to God alone. The great advance in 
enlightenment since is evidenced by comparing the 
intense and gloomy theology of Jonathan Edwards early 
in the eighteenth century, or even that of Lyman 
Beecher, nearly a century later, with that of leading 
evangelical teachers of the present day, notably Phillips 
Brooks and Lyman Abbott. Compare Edwards's ex- 
pressions regarding Original Sin and his " Sinners in 
the hands of an angry God '' with this recent utterance 
of Lyman Abbott : " The bond of the Church is love ; 
the Church is a body of loyal Christians doing Christ's 
work in Christ's way. The flowers got into a dispute 
one day as to what was a flower. The trailing arbutus 
said : ' Nothing is a flower unless it has a vine and 
hides itself under the leaves ; ' and the tulip said : 
' Nothing is a flower unless it grows out of a bulb and 
puts its flower head a little above the ground ; ' and 
the tulip-tree said : ' Nothing is a flower unless it has 
a root and trunk and branches, and all the flowers five 
or six feet at least above the ground.' And the spring 
sun looked down upon them and said : ' Whatever is 
fragrant and whatever is beautiful is a flower.' It may 
hide itself like the Quaker, beneath the leaves where 
men cannot find it ; and it may have the most elaborate 
organization running down into the roots of history, 
like the Episcopal Church ; and it may stand anywhere 
between the two: — the flower is a flower, and the devout 
soul is a devout soul, and wherever souls are brought 
together to do God's work in God's way there is a 
church of the living God." 

In an age of theological complications and of dis- 



40 

piitations regarding religion, George Fox felt it his 
mission to call the people away therefrom to the Inner 
Light which lighteth every man which cometh into the 
world, to a free gospel ministry, and to purity and sim- 
plicity of life. Pioneers of reform, no doubt, are apt to 
overdo or to seem to overdo, for only by strong contrasts 
can the minds of men be awakened. Thus the early 
Friends, protesting both by speech and practice against 
the abuses of their time, were no doubt in some instances 
fanatical. But the duties and methods of one age are 
not the duties and methods of another ; and the stern 
war-cry of George Fox in the seventeenth century, 
calling the people back to first principles of religion, 
and the extreme simplicity of the life of John Woolman, 
a century later, may be quite uncalled-for in the closing 
years of the nineteenth century. 

In the two hundred years which have elapsed since 
the foundation of the Society of Friends, the Christian 
church has had a great awakening. It has been often 
claimed that this spiritual revival has been largely due 
to the influence of our Society. How far this may be 
true it is difficult to judge, and certainly a body so 
small in number as ours, — compared with the body 
of the Christian church, — should be careful not to claim 
too much. But the fact remains that a great spiritual 
development began with the time of George Fox, and 
that his loud call to a return to the simple religion of 
Christ, to attention to the monitions of the Inner Light, 
was the forerunner of a religious enlightenment and 
liberality which has since, despite many drawbacks, 
steadily progressed in the Christian world. 

Perhaps it is not too much to claim that this small 
body of professing Christians has been the leaven which 
has leavened the mass, and that the power and influence 
claimed for the Friends, though not shown by increase 
of membership or the controlling influence of numbers, 
is indicated by the recognition to a greater or less degree 
of the vital testimonies of the Society by nearly all 
sects of professing Christians. It cannot be denied that 
a recognition of the essential principle of the Inner 



41 

Light, of increased simplicity and liberality of faith as 
compared with belief in complex theological dogmas, 
and a disposition to insist upon certain uncompromising 
beliefs and religious observances, is now widespread 
among the churches. Belief in the Fatherhood of God 
and the brotherhood of man, in a practical religion 
which lives Us faith, in an enlightened liberality which 
declines to insist upon any particular creed or confession 
of faith, but which concedes to every human being the 
absolute right to his own belief, insisting only that the 
life be pure and void of offense, is to-day much more 
prevalent in the Christian world than two hundred, one 
hundred, or even fifty years ago. What part the Society 
of Friends has indeed had in this great spiritual and 
practical revival of Christ's kingdom among men can- 
not be precisely stated. But the fact that the testimon- 
ies to which from the beginning the Society has felt 
impelled to call the world have, despite many draw- 
backs, taken firm root among the churches, and that the 
Society, despite its smallness of numbers, has had an 
influence recognized by a large portion of the Christian 
world, is powerful testimony to the character and effi- 
cacy of its work among men. 

Friends have been from the beginning a peculiar 
people ; peculiar in their style of dress, in their attempts 
at perfect honesty of manner and of speech, in their 
manner of silent worship, and in the conduct of their 
business meetings. Perhaps no other religious gather- 
ings in the world transact business in the same way, 
arriving at decisions not by parliamentary usages or the 
vote of majorities, but by the general sense and spirit- 
ual weight of the membership. I remember a quaint 
remark quoted to me long ago by one of our most 
highly respected members : " There are two ways of 
doing a thing, the right way and the Friends' way.'' I 
did not understand this to imply that the Friends' way 
was not the right way, but that it was a peculiar way 
of arriving at correct results. 

There is always danger in peculiarities, and indul- 
gence in them without sound reasons, so far from being 



42 

an evidence of strength, is generally a sign of weakness 
and should be most 2arefiilly guarded. And yet the 
peculiar method of Friends in the transaction of busi- 
ness, has been on the whole successful, and is perhaps 
an ideal even though an unattainable system of govern- 
ment on any extended scale. 

But however great and heroic may have been the 
work of the Society in the past, it is not on work already 
done that any Society can repose in security and safety, 
and it must be so especially with the Society of Friends. 
Not on the achievements of our ancestors can we or our 
descendants rest. The heritage which came to us can 
only be transmitted to our descendants by our faithful- 
ness to duty and to the work of our day. 

What is the work of the Society at the present time ? 
or, as is sometimes claimed, has its mission ceased among 
men, and after its remarkable history shall it disappear 
as an organization and be swallowed up by the other re- 
ligious bodies of the day? Is its work approaching a 
conclusion in the acceptance of its original testimonies 
by the Christian Church, or shall it have a future of ac- 
tivity and influence even comparable to its distinguished 
history ? These are questions which face us to-day, and 
the answers are not easily to be found. Shall future 
history record that the career of the Society of Friends 
was but an incident in religious history, and that having 
stirred the churches to a recognition of the Divine life 
in the soul of man, and of the simplicity and spiritual- 
ity of the religion of Jesus Christ, it passed away and 
was seen of men no more? These may be strange 
questions to ask on an anniversary occasion, when 
mutual congratulations seem to be the duty of the hour. 
But a time of rejoicing for past achievement should also 
be a time of self-examination. 

With a population perhaps exceeding seventy millions 
in this rapidly growing nation, and a growth in mem- 
bership of nearly all the great religious organizations 
somewhat correspondent thereto, our own small numbers 
have not increased, but have remained practically 
stationary. While size of membership is not a test of 



43 

spiritual power, and " one with God is a majority/' yet 
this peculiar people must show by their works a reason 
for their existence as a separate organization, or they 
must soon cease to exist as a distinct body. 

The age still needs to have held up before it the 
standard of a pure and vital religion, un vexed by theo- 
logical dogmas or by cumbrous outward ceremonials. It 
still needs to have George Fox's cry " turn within," 
repeated again and again. But evangelical teachers all 
about us have accepted the call, and are holding the 
standard up. Where, therefore, lies the separate work 
of the Friends ? With an earnest belief in the mission 
of the Society and a no less earnest hope for its con- 
tinuance as a religious force in the world of mankind, 
I confess I have at times shared a sense of discourage- 
ment which has been expressed regarding its future. 

It may well be said that we have no especial mission 
of proselytism, that we do not care to add to our num- 
bers, but only to worship God in our own way. True : 
but evidences of vitality and of continuance in the body 
are much to be desired, and the want thereof, even the 
smallness of numbers of our membership, would seem 
to be indicative of weakness in the organization as it 
exists to-day. Have we as a body outlived our useful- 
ness ? Are we relying too much upon the past, upon 
traditions handed down from the early days, instead of 
the inspiration which comes fresh to every age ? 

Let us consider a few points. '' Plainness of speech, 
behavior, and apparel." This quaint testimony has an 
association in our minds almost of reverence. And yet 
care should be taken that its importance be not over- 
estimated, and that it be not substituted for testimonies 
which are really vital. Plainness of speech (the ''thee " 
and ''thou" of the Friends), is indeed beautiful to hear 
as the language of affection, but the old practice of apply- 
ing the pronoun " you " to persons of rank, as though 
they were individually more than one, and "thee" to 
persons of inferior rank — the common people — does 
not now exist. Plainness of speech should be under- 
stood to mean directness, simplicity, and truthfulness of 



44 

speech, not adherence to an awkward peculiarity. 
Plainness of behavior, unless perfectly understocd and 
practiced in the highest sense, is even fraught with 
danger. It must be confessed that the charge sometimes 
made against Friends of a want of refinement in man- 
ner, has not been altogether unwarranted, and the charge 
should be respectfully considered. As a protest against 
rapidly changing fashions and extravagance of dress, 
plainness of apparel is still a valuable testimony. Yet 
we cannot but regard the adherence to any particular 
style of dress as a departure from true simplicity. All 
these testimonies are still valuable. But a rigid adher- 
ence to a narrow formality in regard to them is not in 
correspondence with the enlightenment of the age, nor 
with the vital spirit of true Quakerism. 

The testimony against music would seem to need 
careful consideration. Fifty years ago almost every 
form of melody, vocal or instrumental, was regarded 
among Friends almost as a device of the evil one. To- 
day music in its proper place is recognized by a large 
portion of the Society as elevating and refining in its 
tendency, and is profitably used in many of our homes. 

Again, some Friends still need to be reminded of the 
broadening and elevating influences of higher educa- 
tion, and in some quarters there is a want of apprecia- 
tion of the benefits which undoubtedly spring therefrom 
and of the influence upon the future of the Society. 
Higher education is a necessity of the age. Will Friends 
avail of its beneficent influence under their own guarded 
care, or shall our young people be driven to seek it in 
other folds ? 

These matters are referred to not in any spirit of 
undue criticism, but in that of inquiry, and with a sin- 
cere desire to aid, if possible, in strengthening the w-eak 
places in our midst. But I would not dwell upon that 
side of the picture. On the other side there are evi- 
dences of the development of a living spirit among us, 
which may yet bear fruit to the renewal of our life. 
The First-day school work, a growth of the past 
twenty-five years, and the Young Friends' Associations, 



45 

of quite recent origin, are most encouraging evidences 
of Christian vitality among us. The study of the 
Scriptures in the true spirit of reverence and of intelli- 
gent research, as well as of the testimonies of Friends, 
should be most diligently commended. 

Let us ever hold up before our children the cardinal 
testimony of our faith — the simplicity of the religion 
of Jesus Christ, the Inner Light, the Divine Imman- 
ence, the divinity of Christ in the soul of man. Let 
us impress upon them the beauty and sacredness of silent 
worship — the gathering together in a meeting capacity 
in a living silence, in the midst of which God speaks to 
the soul as never man spake. 

Let us bear testimony to the value of a free gospel 
ministry. Let us cherish it as a testimony to simplicity 
in religious service and as a reminder of apostolic times 
and practices. And let us live plainly, not in the spirit 
of asceticism, but in prudent accordance with our several 
circumstances, making proper use of the comforts and 
refinements which the age has brought us, ever re- 
membering our duty towards those not so well situated 
in outward circumstances as ourselves, and affording a 
proper example to others as opposed to extravagant and 
ostentatious living. 

If we are to maintain our position and increase our 
influence in the world, we must continue to show our 
faith by our works. Friends in the past have in their 
quiet way led in Christian labor among mankind. The 
great anti-slavery movement was antedated nearly a 
hundred years by the quiet labors of John Woolman 
and Anthony Benezet. In the cause of Peace, of the 
Indian, of Temperance, of Prison Reform, of the equal 
rights of women. Friends have been among the leaders. 
So great, however, is the general activity in these latter 
days, that we are certainly no more than abreast of the 
Christian movements of the times towards the uplifting 
of the human race. To maintain and increase our 
vitality we must at least have our full share in the 
Christian movements of the age. 

I believe the work of this peculiar people is not 



46 

ended. On the contrary, although I anticipate no con- 
siderable accession to its numbers, I believe there is still 
a distinct work for it in the world. This work cannot 
be delegated to others. It is the peculiar service of the 
Society of Friends. It is their mission in the world. 
Add to the fundamental doctrine of the Inner Light 
their testimonies to silent worship, to a free gospel min- 
istry, and to simplicity of life, surely the Society has 
still a wondrous call to continued service in the vine- 
yard of the Lord. 

And appreciating the great heritage earned for us by 
the fathers and mothers of our faith, first through per- 
secution and martyrdom, then through two hundred 
years of the highest Christian example to mankind, 
shall we not hold it ever dear and say to our children 
and our children's children — " This Society was founded 
on a rock and it endures." 



47 



POEM. 
By Francis B. Gummere. 

They heard a voice of ruin on the wind, 
And vengeful fingers flashed about the sky 

Omens of terror. " From the wrath behind, 
Save us, Jehovah ! " rose our fathers' cry. 

" Look, Lord, our hands are bleeding where they cling 
Along the sharp edge of Thy mercy-seat ; 

Our heads are in the dust, and still we sing 
Amid our choking, fallen at Thy feet ! " 

God rolled apart the portals of the sea. 

And pointed down the long Atlantic wave : 

" In yonder wilderness is peace with Me." 

" Peace, then," they answered, " though it be a grave." 

'* Forth from the ruins of a broken dream, 

Out of the shadow of memorial fear. 
Yonder, brother ! Let the north wind scream. 

The billows threaten, still the Light is clear. 

" The Light that led against embattled priests. 
Ranks girded only with the sword of love. 

The Light that cheered, even when amid the beasts 
Of Ephesus our saints and martyrs strove." 

Peace in the wilderness those fathers sought. 
Where through its vales the silent river flows ; 

Peace in the wilderness they found, and taught 
The wilderness to blossom as the rose. 

Even yet the forest, yet the dales and rills, 
Hamlet or farmstead, all unknown to fame, 

Breathe the old beauty of the Cambrian hills 
And bind us with the magic of a name. 

Ah, dearer still the magic and the power 

Sprung from that simple round of birth and death ! 

Dearest of all they left us be the dower 
Of virtue, honor, fearlessness, and faith ! 



48 



Strong-sou led, O fathers, bred amid the shock 
Of falling kingdoms and our new time's throe. 

Wearing your robe of meekness as a rock 

That fronts the storm-winds in his fleece of snow. 

And ye, nameless ones, that set the sail 

In some dreamed haven God's far tryst to keep, 

And with his lisjht upon your faces pale. 
Clasping a virgin hope, sank in the deep, — 

Breath faith upon us ! For the dusk is falling, 
The stars ye followed vanish from our sight ; 

Scarcely we hear the leader's trumpet calling : 
So leave us not amid the gathering night. 

Not like some lonely fisher whom the wars 
Of wind and flood have left without a sail, 

What time the mist has blotted all the stars, 
And waves are chafing to the angry gale, — 

He clasps the helm, he knows not where to turn ; 

Behind, before, the white and sibilant foam ; 
Vain, vain for him the harbor beacons burn 

And little voices call him to his home! 

But let the light that led your hero-band 
Shine on for us, or sun or pillar of fire, 

Piercing the mists that veil a promised land 
And cheat the Spirit of its last desire, — 

That we may follow where a herald beam 

Shall light the coast of faith's new hemisphere, 

Forth from the ruins of a broken dream. 
Out of the shadow of memorial fear. 



49 



CLOSING EXERCISES. 

At the close of the exercises a silence fell upon those 
assembled, which was broken by words of prayer and 
thanksgiving by Matilda E. Janney. The meeting 
then closed, the people scattered about the grounds or 
returned to their homes, feeling, we trust, that it was 
good to have been there. 



Although the exercises under the care of the com- 
mittee ended on the afternoon of Tenth month 5th, the 
usual First-day morning meeting was held in the old 
meeting-house on the following day, and was a solemn 
and impressive occasion. 

In the afternoon a meeting appointed by the Visit- 
ing Committee of Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting was 
held. The number present being more than the meet- 
ing-house could accommodate, the meeting was assem- 
bled in the tent used on the previous day. Testimony 
was borne, inciting those present to faithfulness in up- 
holding the principles and testimonies of our Religious 
Society, especially our faith in the immediate revela- 
tion of the Divine Will to the children of men. 







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